PPG Industries' (NYSE:PPG) performance glazings business has introduced Sungate(R) 400 glass, a passive low-emissivity glass with a magnetron sputtered vacuum deposition (MSVD) "soft coat" that helps commercial buildings in heating-dominated climates retain heat from the sun and reduce winter heating costs.
Sungate 400 glass has a winter U-value (insulating value) that is 9 percent better than that of Sungate 500 glass, which is typical of passive low-e coated glass options manufactured with "hard" pyrolitic coatings. In addition to offering excellent insulating qualities, Sungate 400 glass has an exceptionally clear aesthetic. When coated on a conventional clear glass substrate, visible light transmittance (VLT) for Sungate 400 glass is 76 percent. On an ultra-clear Starphire(R) glass substrate, VLT is 80 percent.
Glenn T. Miner, architectural market manager, PPG performance glazings, said Sungate 400 glass was originally developed to address new residential building codes, and then refined for commercial applications to support requests from architects. "The strong demand we heard for this glass from commercial architects in places such as Minneapolis and Chicago demonstrated a marketplace need we were well-positioned to meet," he said. "This coated glass is extremely well-suited to the applications for which it is designed, and it provides the flexibility to be used in combination with other coatings to maximize performance."
Miner said Sungate 400 glass performs best as a passive low-e product when specified as a third-surface coating on Starphire glass, which maximizes the solar heat gain coefficient and minimizes U-value. Sungate 400 was engineered to be paired with Solarban(R) 60 or Solarban 70XL solar control, low-e glasses to optimize performance in triple-pane insulating glass units.